Today's Train of Thought takes us to the Tarheel State and gives us a glimpse of the appropriately-named Coastal Carolina railroad. The 142 mile line started out modestly in 1989, operating some 17 miles of a former Norfolk Southern branch between Pinetown and Bellhaven, NC.
The Coastal Carolina expanded considerably in 2007 by leasing the original Norfolk Southern line between Plymouth and Raleigh, NC with the yard at Chocowinty, NC serving as a hub. Traffic includes grain, plastics, woodchips, ethanol, stone, fertilizer, paper products, LPG and feed. To accommodate this massive expansion, the Coastal Carolina purchased an array of secondhand power, including former Grand Trunk Western GP9s, a Duluth Missabe & Iron Range SD9M, a former Illinois Central GP11 and ex-Santa Fe GP30s.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Nick McLean caught Coastal Carolina GP40 #95 with a cut of wood chip hopper cars that dwarf the locomotive as it heads out across the Pamlico River in Washington, NC in April 2010 with Coastal Carolina train 119 [and the trestle in turn seems to dwarf the train- NANESB!].
Train 119 no doubt has some work to do between on its run between Chocowinty to Plymouth. The lead unit started out life in 1966 and strutted its stuff for several years not too far from where McLean snapped these photos of the impressive span- the #95 was actually built for CSX predecessor Seaboard Coast Line. However, Coastal Carolina purchased the venerable EMD from the Mississippi Export rail and hastily relettered it before putting it into service.
The Coastal Carolina line through Washington hugs the banks of the Pamlico (at this point its almost considered Pamlico sound) before crossing over. The bridge was part of the original Norfolk Southern and still had a bridgetender to manually open and close the bridge and inspect the train as it rolls past at a leisurely 10 MPH.
Other items reported to have gone missing at the convention included two iPads worth around $15,000 each, laptops listed at $40,000, $34,000 and $25,000 each, and other miscellaneous items worth far more than their list price.
The report claimed that 40 items were reported lost and one item – the most highly valued one, the $75,000 MacBook Pro – was stolen.
The apparently inflated prices were reported in May with the Charlotte Police Department by Kenneth Hardy, deputy in-house counsel for the Democratic National Convention Committee, on behalf of the DNCC Host Committee.
While proprietary software and programs can increase the value of a laptop, Blackberry, smartphone or tablet, companies like Apple [NASDAQ- AAPL] list items like the missing 13 inch MacBook Pro starting at $1199, the police report file by the DNCC Host Committee values the same computer at $75,537- more than a year's wage for most Americans.
The Charlotte host committee had repaid just $1 million as of the end of the year and still owed $9 million in loans and another $1 million in outstanding bills, according to the latest filing with the Federal Election Commission.
The financial backing from Duke comes despite vows by Democratic Party officials to put on the convention without corporate cash.
Organizers broke that pledge after they were unable to hit their $36.7-million fundraising goal, drawing $5 million from a separate civic committee financed by companies such as Bank of America, Duke Energy and AT&T to rent the the Time Warner Arena for the event.
May or may not be the actual backdrop image used at the DNC 2012 convention in Charlotte
The Democrat Party's national convention in Charlotte, NC has been over for more than a week, but the gathering still made headlines when four massive warships used prominently as a background image as a retired US Navy Admiral addressed the delegates in a speech paying tribute to veterans were in fact Russian.
Having grown up in a dark blue state, I can clearly hear the inevitable scorn and incredulity in the voice of your garden-variety Democrat and Obama supporter- sneering 'Jeez Fenway- what batshit insane right-wing fringe blog did you hear that from?'
On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.
But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.
While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above.
These were the very Soviet-era combatants that Nathman and Cold Warriors like him had once squared off against.
“The ships are definitely Russian,” said noted naval author Norman Polmar after reviewing hi-resolution photos from the event. “There’s no question of that in my mind.”
Naval experts concluded the background was a photo composite of Russian ships that were overflown by what appear to be U.S. trainer jets. It remains unclear how or why the Democratic Party used what’s believed to be images of the Russian Black Sea Fleet at their convention.
The veteran who spotted the error and notified Navy Times said he was immediately taken aback.
“I was kind of in shock,” said Rob Barker, 38, a former electronics warfare technician who left the Navy in 2006. Having learned to visually identify foreign ships by their radars, Barker recognized the closest ship as the Kara-class cruiser Kerch.
The background — featured in the carefully choreographed hour leading up to the president’s Sept. 6 speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination — showed four ships with radar designs not used in the U.S. fleet.
For example, the ship in the foreground, on the far right, has a square radar antenna at the top of its masthead. That is the MR-700 Podberezovik 3-D early warning radar, commonly identified as “Flat Screen” for its appearance, a three-dimensional early warning radar mounted on the Kerch, said Eric Wertheim, editor of “Combat Fleets of the World.”
Similarly, the third ship has a MR-310 “Head Net” air search radar, shaped like two off-set bananas, at its masthead and is mostly likely the guided missile destroyer Smetlivyy. The first two ships seem to be Krivak-class frigates, but it’s hard to discern from the silhouette, experts said.
But the fact they are Russian ships is not in doubt. In addition to the ship’s radar arrays and hulls, which are dissimilar from U.S. warships, the photo features one more give-away: a large white flag with a blue ‘X’ at the ships’ sterns.
The blue cross on white background has been part of the Russian Navy's insignia since czarist times. The vessels in the photos have been identified by experts as belonging to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
DNC officials apologized for the error, blaming 'vendor error' in failing to catch the oversight [Democrats blaming others for their mistakes? I know- toally shocking, isn't it?- NANESB!]. The nationality of the ships also hearkened back to a March conversation between President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev that was caught on an open microphone where Obama promised the Kremlin 'more flexibility' on a missile defense treaty after the 2012 Presidential election.
UPDATE- 9/17 - It gets even better, though. Apparently the Democrats thought that Turkey's military should be represented at the 2012 convention.
According to an Austrian editor of a military aircraft journal, the planes depicted flying in formation above the Russian Black Sea Fleet are F-5s from the Turkish Air Force.
Martin Rosenkranz, a military aircraft expert and editor-in-chief of a military aviation journal in Austria, revealed the fighter jets’ origin to The Daily Caller.
“The aircraft in this image displayed are not U.S. [operated] aircraft,” he told TheDC.
“The jets are most likely from the Turkish air force [because] the formation and the type (F-5) flown is very typical of the seven-ship formation flown by the Turkish Air Force Display Team known as the ‘Turkish Stars,’” said Rosenkranz.
“There is no other display team worldwide” that uses a similar seven-aircraft formation.
Rosenkranz’s argument is bolstered by two other factors.
The aircraft shown at the Democrats’ convention are old F-5 aircraft. They were were designed in the United States and sold to many countries, including Turkey — whose display team uses that same model.
Also, the planes depicted in the Democrats’ Sept. 6 photo montage display an unusual red and white striped pattern painted on the underside of their fuselages — most visible on the lowest and best-lit of the F-5s in the image.
The Russian Ships and Turkish jets as backdrop fiasco was reminiscent of another election year debacle where the Democrat party accompanied an article about US combat veterans on their website with an image of a Canadian soldier in 2006.
The Democrat Party's 2012 convention got underway on Tuesday from Charlotte, NC. Even before the convention, there was some doubt to the viability of the Tarheel state venue, as Charlotte was one of the smallest cities to host a convention from either political party, North Carolina is a right-to-work state and voters had passed a ballot measure that would define marriage as between one man and one woman in the state constitution- angering a number of LGBT groups that are part of the party's base. Mayor Anthony Foxx's decision to use out-of-state union labor for at least some of the projects leading up to the 2012 DNC convention angered some locals in a city where the unemployment rate remains at nearly 9%.
Visitors to the DNC in Charlotte will see an unconvincing facsimilie of a leader with little substance to it and ready to crumble under exposure to the slightest of stress. Then there's this nifty sand sculpture of President Obama, too.
The convention opened up with workers frantically trying to prevent a sand sculpture of President Obama from collapsing during some scattered rainstorms. The sand was reportedly trucked in from Myrtle Beach, SC and the sand-Obama is urging visitors to see Myrtle Beach.
An introductory video for the convention caused a stir when the narrator said "Government is the only thing we all belong to..". The statement was the polar opposite of what actor and director Clint Eastwood had mentioned in his remarks towards the end of the GOP convention in Tampa, FL last week- he reminded those in attendance that politicians work for the American people, not the other way around. The gaffe in the video was fairly minor compared to what had taken place on Wednesday.
As First Lady Michelle Obama attempted to make the case for her husband's re-election in a speech on Tuesday night, word had gotten out that the DNC had omitted any mention of Jerusalem being recognized as the Israeli capital or any mention of 'God' from the official Party platform. After a number of reports that the Democrat party had made no mention of this on the platform, DNC leadership took a procedural vote on the two subject with the gathered delegates. By rule, the measure needed a two-thirds majority for approval. When the delegates voted 'Aye/Nay' the first time around, Los Angles mayor Anthony Villaraigoso called for two more votes on the same subject. Even though the crowd sounded like it was split 50/50 over the issue- not enough for the revised language- Villaraigos hesitated and declared the amended language passed amid a chorus of boos.
The biggest winners of that vote were most likely Republican party candidates. Their opposition is now on record as boo-ing Israel and any mention of God and as a bonus, there is now video of the DNC leadership basically holding a vote over and over until they could get their desired results- even though it went against the wishes of many of the delegates.
Speaking of Israel, DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shcultz was caught in multiple lies while being interviewed on CNN. The south Florida congresswoman had reportedly told supporters and campaign workers that the Israeli ambassador had said the Republican Party posed a grave threat to Israel's security. However, when word of Wasserman-Schultz's statements became public, Israel's ambassador to the USA- Michael Oren- categorically denied making any such statement. Wasserman-Schultz then claimed she was intentionally misquoted by a conservative-leaning media outlet, but then the audio of her remarks in question began to surface. Earlier on Wednesday, Wasserman-Schultz denied that there was any tension or rancor on the convention floor regarding the revised platform language and subsequent votes.
The fiasco eventually gave way to a fairly well-executed speech by former president Bill Clinton, however the main event was up against the start of the 2012 NFL season- starting off with the Cowboys vs Giants. The speech was well recieved by a number of pundits, but the question remains how many tuned in to the convention rather than the football game.
And while on the topic of footballs and stadiums, the Democrats announced that Obama's acceptance speech scheduled for Thursday will be moved from 73,778-seat Bank of America Stadium [which had reportedly been temporarily renamed Panthers Stadium because the Democrats and Obama campaign feared a backlash over the bailouts and tough talk on big banks- NANESB!] to 19,077 seat Time Warner Cable Arena. The campaign cited the possibility of showers on the night President Obama's speech was scheduled. However, a local forecaster said that with a 20%-30% chance of showers, Thursday night was actually the best possible night during the convention to hold a massive outdoor event. A number of pundits believe that the costly change of venue has more to do with the optics of Obama addressing a mostly-empty stadium when his campaign is supposed to be gaining momentum.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN- There was more to the 30th anniversary celebration of Norfolk Southern than the 21st Century Steam program, as it turned out.
Although it had initially planned a total of 18 'heritage' units- new locomotives painted in the colors of various Norfolk Southern predecesors- the total was bumped up to 20 earlier this summer with the belated additon of the Penn Central and Monongehela as part of the heritage fleet.
While just about all of the heritage units were placed in revenue service after arriving from GE's Erie, PA plant of Progress Rail's EMD facility in Muncie, IN, in late June, all 20 units were sent to the North Carolina Transportation Museum at Spencer, NC for a one-of-a-kind 'family portrait' at the Museum's massive roundhouse.
In the above official Norfolk Southern image, the heritage units on display include Norfolk & Western ES44AC #8103, Nickel Plate ES44AC #8100, Virginian SD70ACe #1069, Wabash SD70ACe #1070, Illinois Terminal SD70ACe #1072, Pennsylvania #8102, New York Central #1066, Penn Central SD70ACe #1073, Erie SD70ACe #1068, Delaware Lackawana & Western SD70ACe #1074, Central Railroad of New Jersey SD70ACe #1071, Reading SD70ACe #1067, Lehigh Valley ES44AC #8104, Monongehela ES44AC #8025, Conrail ES44AC #8098, Norfolk Southern ES44AC #8114, Interstate ES44AC #8105, Wabash SD70ACe #1070, Savannah & Atlanta SD70ACe #1065 and Southern ES44AC #8098.
Norfolk Southern had also made it a point to have some of the heritage units accompany the steam-powered employee specials earlier in the summer with 'Nickel Plate' GE #8100 accompanying Nickel Plate #765 in Pennsylvania and 'Savannah & Atlanta' EMD #1065 accompanying the Southern #630 on trips through Tennessee and Virginia. Reportedly the Wabash #1070 will accompany the Fort Wayne Historical Society's big Nickel Plate Berkshire to St Louis this month for additional employee specials.
Although Union Pacific and Pan Am have both paid tribute to predecessor roads with specially painted locomotives, the size and scope of Norfolk Southern's heritage program is unprecedented. About half the roads honored in the NS Heritage program are due to the carrier's 1999 joint takeover of Consolidated Rail Corp- better known as Conrail- with CSX. Conrail was hastily formed from the remnants of the Penn Central, Erie Lackawana, Central Railroad of New Jersey, Reading and Lehigh Valley in 1976. Conrail also acquired a controlling interest in southwestern Pennsylvania coal hauler Monongahela in 1993.
A pair of Wheeling & Lake Erie SD40-2s dropping ballast in the yard adjacent to the MarkWest Liberty Mid-stream processing plant in Westland, PA on Aug 2nd, 2012. To access the facilities, the Wheeling & Lake Erie had to re-lay track over a 4½ stretch of former Montour Railroad track that was abandoned nearly 30 years ago and converted into a hiking trail. Jason Capra photo
WHEELING & LAKE ERIE- A portion of a rural branchline in the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania that was abandoned and torn up in 1984 is once again seeing trains thanks to the ongoing natural gas bonanza from the Marcellus Shale.
A subsidiary of the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, the Montour Railroad was down to 23 miles in the early 1980s when their last major shipper- the Westland Coal Mine- announced they were closing down in 1984. In the early 1990s, the Montour Trail Council was formed to convert much of the remaining Mountour Railroad right-of-way into a hiking trail in the Pittsburgh area.
In 2005, a natural gas well was drilled in rural Washington County, PA using a relatively new technology called hydrofracking where sand, water and certain chemicals are used to drill through layers of shale for natural gas. Although geologists had long believed there were abundant natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale outcropping- which stretches from Upstate New York to eastern Tennessee- accessing it in an economic manner was problematic until the hydrofracking process had been proven successful.
Although Denver-based MarkWest energy [NYSE: MWE] had completed a massive cryogenic processing plant in Westland, the natural gas byproducts were loaded up in tractor trailers that had to negotiate at least 8 miles of relatively narrow, 2-lane roads before reaching interstate 79 in nearby Cannonsburg, PA. But in 2011, MarkWest Liberty announced their plans to re-open a portion of the former Montour Railroad which would give the cryogenic facility access to the Wheeling and Lake Erie railroad's line between Mingo Jct, OH and the former Norfolk & Western Rook Yard in Pittsburgh as well as interchange with CSX, Norfolk Southern and multiple Genesee & Wyoming properties.
The first train to operate over the newly-opened line was a short ballast train in June powered by two W&LE SD40-2s. In August, MarkWest Liberty began shipping byproducts by rail out of the Westland yard for the first time.
Currently, the rail loading facility has the capability of loading 12 tankers, but plans are to expand the number of loading racks so that up to 24 tankers can be loaded per trip.
The gas is piped to the rail loading facility from the processing plant in pure product lines, mostly propane or butane. The butane will be transported to petrochemical refineries while most of the propane is shipped to the East Coast for home heating use. There also will be shipments of isobutane and natural gasoline, McHale said. The natural gasoline is expected to be shipped to Canada for processing. All of the byproducts markets are subject to negotiated contracts with the producers and, in Washington County, MarkWest processes natural gas exclusively for Range Resources.
While the train is currently making one trip a day with 50 tankers, eventually that will become four trips a day for a total of 200 tankers. Each rail tanker takes four trucks off the road.
As for the rails-to-trails portion, there is still a trail involved. Contractors for MarkWest Liberty also completed a parallel portion of the Montour Trail along the line, with the fence separating the hiking trail from the railroad line.
A pair of Columbus & Chatahoochee SD40-2s lead two more Genesee & Wyoming units southbound with a mixed freight along Brickyard Rd in Girard, AL on July 1st during the innagural run of the C&C.
Frank Orona photoGENESEE & WYOMING- Shortly before the Genesee & Wyoming's [NYSE- GWR] purchase of competing shortline holding company Rail America [NYSE- RA] was announced, GWR started up operations on yet another Southeastern shortline.
Operations for the 26 mile Columbus and Chatahoochee began on July 1, 2012 on a former Norfolk Southern branch between Girard and Mahart, AL. The deal also includes trackage rights on Norfolk Southern between Girard, AL and Columbus, GA to reach the Norfolk Southern Yard and sister GWR road Georgia Southeastern.
Power for the line is a pair of SD40-2s in GWR's trademanrk orange and black. At its startup, the line is also borrowing power from sister railroads Chattooga and Chickamagua and The Bay Line in the form of 3 GP38s. The Columbus & Chatahoochee is the ninth GWR railroad to start up operations in the region- a number of the other lines include formerly independent shortlines and regionals such as the Georgia Central, Altanta & St Andrews Bay, Georgia Southwestern, Chatahoochee Industrial or Meridian & Bigbee.
Today's train of thought takes us down to south-central part of the Tarheel State. With mega-transactions like the Genesee & Wyoming's purchase of Rail America, the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western railroad is something of a vanishing breed in this country- an independent and locally operated shortline railroad. Started in 1987, the company operates on a former Norfolk Southern branch from Aberdeen to Star, NC. The AC&W also excercises trackage rights into downtown Charolotte, NC. Traffic for the Aberdeen, Carolina and Western includes bricks, chicken feed, lumber, ethanol, natural gas and woodchips
In recent years, traffic has grown significantly on the AC&W. The line started out operating with secondhand GP9s and ex CSX GP16s- many of them getting a new coat of paint in the Aberdeen Carolina & Western's spiffy green and cream colors. With the advent of unit ethanol trains in the last decade as well as trainloads of corn destined for the Purdue and Mountaire chicken farms along the system, the AC&W needed bigger and more reliable power. About 10 years ago, a half dozen former Canadian National widecab GP40-2LW's arrived on the property and were painted into AC&W colors. More recently, the AC&W opted for 6-axle power with the purchase of nine rebuilt former Canadian National SD40-3s in the last two years.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Patrick Treadaway caught AC&W SD40-3 #6910 and #6918 working the Purdue chicken farm at Candor, NC in August 2011. The lengthy cut of cars accentuates some of the roller-coaster hills in this part of the Tarheel state and a close look at the door leading to the cab of #6910 indicates the crew is attempting to cool down the old-school way.
Those killed in the crash have been identified as Lt. Col. Paul K. Mikeal, 42, of Mooresville, Maj. Joseph M. McCormick, 36, of Belmont, Maj. Ryan S. David, 35, of Boone, and Senior Master Sgt. Robert S. Cannon, 50. Two other crew members were seriously injured in the crash, but military officials have declined to identify them. The aircraft was from the North Carolina Air National Guard's Charlotte-based 145th Airlift Wing.
The crash prompted the grounding of six other MAFFs-equipped C-130 Hercules aircraft deployed to combat wildfires throughout the Western United States, although they were cleared to take off again by Tuesday afternoon.
With the crash and subsequent grounding of the MAFFS-euipped C-130s [Modular Airborne Firefighting System], there were less than a dozen fixed wing aircraft available to combat wildfires that have been sparked in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, South Daktoa, Utah, Airzona, New Mexico and Nevada. The nation's already-dwindling firefighting aircraft fleet was down to just 9 fixed wing aircraft after a deadly plane crash near the Nevada-Utah in June killed two crew members, a P2V tanker made a crash landing at a northern Nevada airport and another P2V was taken out of commission after large cracks were discovered in the airframe.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, evacuation orders were lifted for some parts of the city as fire officials said the devestating Waldo Canyon fire was around 70% contained. The fire, which began in a national forest about 11 days ago, destroyed about 350 homes in the Colorado Springs area and is the costliest wildfire in the history of Colorado.
"I believe when folks try and take collective bargaining rights away by passing so-called 'right to work' laws that might also be called 'right to work for less,' laws, that’s not about economics, that’s about politics," Obama told the AFL-CIO today. "That’s about politics." He then credited the AFL-CIO for creating American prosperity, saying "unions like yours made sure that everybody had a fair shake, everybody had a fair shot."
While it might play well for an audience that includes Trumka or Jimmy Hoffa Jr, it seems to ignore the harsh reality for unions and the Obama Administration that the new industrial and manufactuing jobs that have been cropping up recently have done so in right-to-work states.
And locomotives aren't the only thing General Electric will be manufacturing in a right-to-work state. In late October 2011, GE Aviation broke ground on an Auburn, AL plant that will make jet aircraft components. Production scheduled to begin in 2013 and the Auburn plant is expected to employ anywhere from 300 to 400 people. Meanwhile, Volkswagen continued a recently-established tradition of foreign automakers setting up shop in the deep south with the 2011 opening of their Chattanooga, TN plant which will primarily make Passats for the North American market. Right up the I-24 and outside of Nashville is Nissan's Smyrna, TN plant which was among the first foreign automaker to set up shop in the USA nearly 30 years ago.
Some enterprising individuals in right to work states like Georiga have even begun marketing chopsticks to overseas markets in Asia, where there is a shortage of wood to manufacture them locally in any significant numbers.
And these are some of the most recent examples I can cite- since the late 1990s, foreign automakers like BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Honda have set up shop throughout Dixie- all right to work states. I just figured I would point out some of the jobs created by manufacturers setting up facilities in right-to-work states since President Obama has been in office, since he made it clear in his speech to big labor this week that he washes his hands of anything having to do with right-to-work. However, I have absolutely no doubt that Obama would try to take credit for every last job created in a right to work state over the last 3 years while he's campaigning.
However, perhaps the biggest headache for Democrats in right-to-work states doesn't come from the industrial or manufacturing sector, but rather the upcoming 2012 Democrat Party Convention in Charoltte, NC. Apparently to be awarded the convention, Obama ally and Charlotte's Democrat mayor reportedly had to agree to terms that union workers would be brought in from out of state, leaving local businesses in the lurch after Foxx promised his constituents the convention would be an economic boom. Although Foxx denied steering contracts to out-of-state union businesses, a number of local companies were told by the DNC to look elsewhere for business if they were non-union while as many as 3000 union workers from a Maryland company called Hargove were expected to show up in Charlotte this summer in prepeartion for the convention.
Today's train of thought takes us to the Tarheel State as the local dogwoods are in bloom. Ubiquitous throughout the southeastern USA, the wood from dogwood trees are often used in the manufacture of small but durable wooden products like tool handles or cutting boards. The blossom from the dogwood tree is North Carolina's state flower, in fact.
Here, railpictures.net contributor Matt Robie catches Norfolk Southern GE C40-9 #8774 gliding through Landis, NC and past some blossoming dogwoods with a big BNSF GE trailing. The duo is powering Linwood, NC to Charleston, SC symbol freight 337 on April 16, 2008.
Def Jam records founder Russel Simmons has condemned home improvement retail chain Lowe's [NYSE: LOW] for their recent announcement that they were pulling their ads from the TLC Channel's All-American Muslim program.
The reality show, which is filmed in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, MI, showcases the day to day goings-on of five Lebanese shi'a families in America's largest Muslim community and airs on Silver Springs, MD based Discovery Communications [NASDAQ: DISCA, DISCB & DISCK] TLC Channel.
Lowe's was one of dozens of companies to pull their advertising from the show amid declining ratings and letters from groups like Florida Family Association urging them to withdraw their ads.
For some unknown reason, California State Senator Ted Leiu (D- Torrance) decided to jump into the fray, issuing a shrill press release calling for a boycott of Lowe's as well as 'legislative remedies'. What 'legislative remedy' a state senator from California thinks he can impose on a North Carolina-based company that withdrew its ads from a TV show filmed in the Detroit area and airing Maryland-based TV network, I have no idea. It's also worth noting that State Senators in California are limited to two terms, so I suspect that that Leiu has his eyes on running for another office once he's finished with the State senate in Sacramento, and his threatening Lowe's with some unspecified legislative action for a fairly routine and legal business decision is an attempt to further gain status among liberal voters in his Los Angeles County district [WHEW! Good thing California doesn't have things like 12% unemployment or a $265 Billion debt to worry about! On second thought, maybe its best progressive Democrats like Leiu are distracted by his dog and pony show targeting Lowe's and kept away from the levers of power- NANESB!]
Of course, there could be a staggeringly obvious reason behind the furor of Lowe's dropping their ads from All American Muslim that everybody seems to be overlooking, and that would simply be an attempt to boost the shows ratings, which have been sliding after a strong start.
All-American Muslim started out strong with 1.7 million viewers and a 0.9 share of adults 18-49, the demographic most coveted by advertisers. Advertisers will pay money for low-rated shows so long as they have a high 18-49 share. But by the second episode it had lost 600,000 viewers and its 18-49 share was down to 0.5. The week after that it was the lowest rated cable show on the top 100 for the night. And last week’s episode was bad enough that it appears to have fallen out of the top 100 completely.
If it were a reality show centered around a less sensitive subject, then nobody could fault Lowe's or other sponsors for yanking their ads.
Full disclosure- I have not seen an episode of All American Muslim for myself. I did see an ad for it during one of the NFL games a few weeks ago, and while I thought the premise was intriguing for all of 5 seconds, I lost interest when one of the women on the show reassures viewers "I don't have a camel in my backyard". My only reaction to that was Lady- given the actions of Nidal Hasan, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, Hasan Akhbar and Faisal Shahzahd, whether or not you have a camel in your backyard is the LEAST of my concerns.
For the record, the lovely young woman above is Noor Al Maleki- the daughter of Iraqi immigrants and what some might consider an 'All American Muslim'. Unfortunately, Noor was run down by her father in a Peoria, AZ parking lot in October 2009 and died of her injuries a few weeks later. Her father fled the country but was later arrested and sentenced to 34 years in prison.
Noor's father was upset at her for becoming too Westernized and reportedly rejected an arranged marriage to an Iraqi groom when she was 17. She moved into her own apartment at age 19, but was reportedly harassed by her father at work, insisting she return home to her parents in the months leading up to her murder and the attempted murder of her boyfriend's mother.
It's not as though I think the families depicted in 'All-American Muslim' are phonies or bad people [again, I haven't actually seen the show, so I'm withholding judgement- NANESB!] it's just that people should be wary of murderous acts like this getting whitewashed, minimized or omitted altogether in both the promotion of TLC's 'All American Muslim' and the shrill accusations of bigotry and islamophobia from Simmons or Leiu.
NHL: After a frenzied 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils earlier this week, the Bruins were set to continue their torrid November by closing out their homestand with a home game against the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets.
This one turned out to be a pretty light-scoring affair, with a scoreless first period. Early in the 2nd period, Blue Jackets C Derek MacKenzie got Columbus on the board with a power-play goal while a little over 2 minuets later, Adam McQuaid got one past Curtis Sanford on an even strength goal to make it 1-1.
Of course, a scoreless 3rd period means overtime, and the scoreless overtime means a shootout! Tukka Rask stopped two out of three shots faced while Sanford allowed goals from David Krejci and Rich Peverly. Rask made the game clinching save on a shot from the Jackets' Antoine Vermette to end the shootout and send Boston to its 7th consecutive win, sweeping the 5 game homestand.
Rask had 30 saves on 31 shots faced while Columbus' Sanford stopped 26 of 27 faced. The Bruins had only one power play opportunity which they didn't capitalize on, while the Jackets went 1 for 2 with the man advantage. While the Bruins had won an earlier shootout on Oct. 15th at Chicago, this is the first shootout win for Tukka Rask on the season.
The defending Stanley Cup Champions (who are starting to play like it) will next travel to Long Island where they will take on the 5-8-3 New York Islanders on Saturday Night. The puck drops at 7PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
OTHER BRUINS NEWS: Quebec's director of criminal prosecutions announced that they had declined to pursue charges against Boston Bruins captain Zdneo Chara over a March 2011 on-ice hit against Montreal's Max Pacioretty that sent him into stanchion and left him with two fractured vertebrae.
Chara had received a game misconduct penalty, but no further sanction from the NHL in the last 8 months since the hit.
NFL: Last week's Thursday night all-AFC West game was of some interest simply because it was the first Thursday night game since the season opener between the Packers and the Saints at Lambeau Field[for some reason, I also dug the ad that showed a Jets fan making his way to his favorite watering hole after being crowded and jostled on a subway car while (presumably) thousands of miles away, a Broncos fan was finishing up at a ranch and making HIS way through the a remote, rutted high plains dirt road in an old Suburban before arriving at his respective tavern (which appeared to be the only structure around for miles) to watch the same game as the Jets fan- NANESB!].
As a New England fan, this week's Thursday night game was of some interest because it featured the Denver Broncos taking on the Patriot's next closest division rival, the New York Jets. The game from Sports Authority Field at Mile High got off to a slow start, with each team trading field goals and heading into the half tied at 3-3.
The Jets would then come out and score a TD on their first possession of the 2nd half to take a 10-3 lead. However, the Broncos would come right back to tie things up at 10-10 after Broncos CB Andre Goodman intercepted a Mark Sanchez pass and returned it 26 yards for the pick-6. The Jets would re-take the lead early in the 4th quarter after a 45 yard Nick Folk FG attempt was good to make things 13-10. With 5:54 remaining in regulation, the Broncos got the ball back on their own 4 yard line, starting QB Tim Tebow ended up calling his number plenty, with five carries for 37 yards (as well as a pass to Dante Rosario and a run by Lance Ball) to set up 3rd and 4 from the Jets 20 yard line with a minute and 6 seconds remaining in the game, setting up this:
With that, the Broncos took the late 17-13 lead over the Jets. Mark Sanchez would get the ball out as far as the Denver 44 yard line before the clock ran out.
The Broncos win this one by a final of 17-14, knocking the Jets down to 3rd place in the AFC East. The Patriots will close out week 11 with a Monday night game against the Kansas City Chiefs from Foxborough, MA.
NCAA HOOPS: Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski this week surpassed his mentor and former Army head coach Bob Knight to become the winningest Division I Men's Basketball coach of all time.
'Coach K' secured career coaching win #903 this week when Duke University beat Michigan State by a 74-69 final at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. Krzyzewski has been Duke's head coach since 1980, leading them to four NCAA titles.
OKLAHOMA STATE: Oklahoma State women's basketball head coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna were killed in a plane crash on a recruiting trip to Arkansas. The single-engine plane was owned and piloted by Bransetter- he and his wife were also killed in the plane crash.
Budke and Serna had been with Oklahoma State since 2005. The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash.
SYRACUSE: Just weeks after the Penn State child molestation scandal shocked the college sports world, a former Syracuse Orangemen ballboy is accusing assistant coach Bernie Fine of molesting him and his stepbrother over a span of several years starting in 1984.
Bobby Davis and Mike Lange allege that they were molested by Fine at Syracuse practice facilities and on road trips. Fine denies the charges by the two men, who are now 39 and 45 respectively.
The Syracuse chancellor said that they were contacted in 2005 about allegations he had previously reported to police regarding Fine. The University claims that it conducted it's own internal investigation and that people the accuser said would support his claims denied any knowledge of wrongdoing on Fine's part. Syracuse police declined to pursue the case because the statute of limitations had expired.
NCAA FOOTBALL: A little like the NFL, although most of the action is typically supposed to take place over the weekend, we were treated to some pretty good televised games throughout the week. BIG 12: Undoubtedly the biggest shock from this week's slate of weeknight games came on Friday Night with Iowa State upending the Oklahoma State Cowboys bid for a perfect season before the December 3rd Bedlam game against the Sooners.
The game took place in Ames, IA and had the Cyclones trailing 17-7 at the half, only to fall even further behind after the Cowboys scored on their first possession of the 2nd half to make it 24-7. From there, however, the Cyclones would go on to score 17 unanswered points, tying the contest up at 24-24 with 6 minutes left in the 4th on a 7 yard Jared Barnett pass to Albert Gary for the game-tying TD, forcing overtime.
For the first OT, the Cyclones and Cowboys traded TDs, while Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden was picked off to start off the 2nd OT. With the short field, Iowa State's backup RB Jeff Woody rushed for the game-winning TD to give the underdog Cyclones the 37-31 win against #2 (and previously undefeated) Oklahoma State.
Depending on what happens to the #5 Sooners, who travel to #25 Baylor this weekend, the December 3rd Bedlam game could very well determine the Big 12 title.
ACC: After falling behind early to the North Carolina Tarheels, #9 Virginia Tech managed to put up 24 points in the 2nd and 3rd quarter before having to hold off a late rally from the Tarheels in the 4th.
The Tarheels would score 2 TDs in the 4th, including a Bryn Renner pass to WR Erik Highsmith. After scoring a TD to make it a 24-21 game, the Tarheels attempted an onside kick that they did recover, but it didn't travel the required 10 yards, so Virginia Tech got the ball back and pretty much ran out the clock.
The win, coupled with a Virginia loss to #23 Florida State this weekend, would give the Hokies the ACC Coastal Division title.
MAC: Pretty good game on Tuesday night between Ball State and Northern Illinois. The NIU Huskies fell behind early by a 14-0 margin, but were able to come back and win by a 41-38 final. Meanwhile, the Ohio Bobcats got by the Bowling Green Red Falcons on a Field Goal as time expired to win by a 29-28 final. Both the Bobcats and Huskies are sporting identical 8-3 records, although NIU has the better in-conference record of 5-1.
PENN STATE: Another curious wrinkle in the Penn State child molestation scandal surfaced when former Nittany Lions head coach Joe Paterno transferred full ownership of his home to his wife for $1 months before the allegations of former coordinator Jerry Sandusky molesting young boys at Penn State facilites and elsewhere.
Some observers interpret this as Paterno attempting to shield himself from civil suits stemming from Sandusky's actions. However, since Paterno is also well into his 80s and this could've been seen as a fairly benign manuever as part of an estate tax shelter of some sort were it not for the timing.
Paterno's son Scott also announced on Friday that the 84 year old former Penn State coach was also diagnosed with treatable lung cancer.
A North Carolina based trucking company is being taken to court by the government for firing an alcoholic truck driver- a move the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission claims is in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
Thomasville, NC-based Old Dominion Freight Line [NASDAQ: ODFL] dismissed a driver in June 2009 based in an Arkansas service center. The driver, Charles Grams, had approached company supervisors and informed them he had a drinking problem
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit this week arguing that Old Dominion Freight Line discriminated against Charles Grams by stripping him of his position and offering him a demotion even if he completed a substance abuse counseling program
Instead, the EEOC argued, the North Carolina-based company, which has a service center in Arkansas, should have complied with the law, known as the ADA, while ensuring safety.
“The ADA mandates that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to achieve in the workplace,” said Katharine Kores, director of the EEOCs Memphis District Office, which covers Arkansas. “While the EEOC agrees that an employer’s concern regarding safety on our highways is a legitimate issue, an employer can both ensure safety and comply with the ADA.”
The EEOC says alcoholism is a recognized disability under the ADA and that the company violated the law with its policy that bans any driver who admits alcohol abuse from driving again.
The EEOC wants the company to reinstate Grams and another affected driver to their previous positions and provide them with back pay, compensatory and punitive damages and compensation for lost benefits. The EEOC is also seeking to block the company’s alcohol-related policy.
Joel McCarty, general counsel to Old Dominion, wouldn’t comment on the details of the pending litigation. But he told FoxNews.com, “We intend to vigorously defend our position.”
When asked to respond to EEOC’s comments and rationale behind the lawsuit, McCarty said, “Obviously, we disagree with their position totally.”
“Our concern is safety,” he said. “And that’s why we intend to defend the policy.”
According to the EEOC’s suit, Grams, who had been with Old Dominion for five years without incident, informed the company in June 2009 that he believed he had an alcohol problem.
The company suspended him from his driving position, which paid him nearly $22 per hour, including benefits. In compliance with U.S. Transportation Department regulations, Grams met with a substance abuse professional who notified the company that Grams would participate in an outpatient treatment program and could return to work.
But Old Dominion told Grams that he wouldn’t be allowed to drive again for the company and instead offered him a part-time position as a dock worker as soon as it became available. The position paid $12 per hour without benefits, the lawsuit alleges.
Grams then decided he couldn't afford treatment because he believed he would have to pay for it upfront and be reimbursed by his insurance company only if it approved the treatment. Instead, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Old Dominion fired him in July for job abandonment.
The EEOC contends that the company's actions deprived Grams and other affected drivers of "equal employment opportunities and otherwise adversely affect their status as employees, in violation of the ADA."
"Grams is a qualified individual with a disability under ADA ... who can perform the essential functions of a driving position," the suit says, adding that Grams and other employees wouldn't need treatment to perform non-driving duties.
So this begs the question if Alcoholism is covered under the ADA, what about drug use? I mean the potential ramifications of a driver operating a commercial vehicle impaired and over the road is no different if that driver's been knocking back Jack Daniels or snorting cocaine. And moreover, the government is ordering that the company assume the risk and liability that comes with a driver with a history or alcohol or substance abuse.
Hurricane Irene made landfall outside of Nags Head, NC at around 7:30 AM ET today, bringing with it storm surges and winds of 85 MPH. So far, Irene is blamed for at least six deaths in the region since Friday and has left millions without electrical power in the Carolinas and Virgina. The storm also spawned a series of tornadoes that struck parts of an already evacuated Virginia Beach, VA.
In Washington D.C., the District's Department of Public works was giving out sandbags to DC residents in the parking lot of RFK stadium, while Philadephia's mayor declared a state of emergency- the city's first such delcaration since 1986.
New York City took the unprecedented step of shutting down the subway and bus system while issuing a mandatory evacuation order for the lower-lying parts of the city, including the area around Battery Park and Wall Street.
After cancelling trains south of Washington DC, Amtrak announced that they would be cancelling all trains north of Washington DC this weekend, including the Northeast Corridor, Keystone Corridor and Empire service.
Tourists and truck drivers evacuating North Carolina's Outer Banks by ferry. Photo: Chuck Beckley- New Bern Sun Journal
A mandatory evacuation order for the outer banks of North Carolina is expected to go into effect Friday as Hurricane Irene gained strength while approaching from the south.
Workers from the North Carolina DOT were inspecting the aging Bonner Bridge after Tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia- the bridge links North Carolina Route 12 from Cape Hatteras to the mainland and is a key evacuation route. Further inland, residents jammed the aisles of local stores and markets in order to stock up on food, fuel, water, generators and other supplies.
At least 180 flights to and from major east coast airports have been cancelled with Irene's expected arrival. Amtrak trains south of Washington D.C., already hobbled by slow orders from host railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX after Tuesday's earthquake in Virginia, were cancelled while travellers were awaiting word on any possible service disruptions on the busy Northeast Corridor.
To the north, the governors of Virginia, Maryland, New York and New Jersey have declared states of emergency in advance of Irene's landfall. The US Navy sortied more than two dozen vessels from the huge Norfolk Naval station, including the aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower, while further north, four attack submarines were dispatched from their Groton, CT base to ride out the storm in deep water. Naval aircraft was being flown further inland to ride out the storm.
The city is making preparations to open 65 evacuation centers, seven special medical needs shelters and 75 general population shelters. These facilities can hold roughly 71,000 people; there are about 272,000 people living in the area most likely to be affected.
Officials recommended residents put together a supply kit, including drinking water, a flashlight, a battery-operated radio and a whistle
All these precautions and preparations are underway despite the uncertainty of where exactly Irene is supposed to make landfall. Numerous projections show her coming ashore anywhere from North Carolina's Outer Banks to Cape Cod while possibly increasing to Category 3 in the process.
Even if the eye of the storm misses the most densely populated areas, there could still be extensive damage to metropolitan areas thanks to heavy rains and winds in the storm's outer bands. If Irene does strike New England, she will likely be the first significant hurricane to strike since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Like Gloria, it's also entirely possible that Irene could make landfall multiple times.
The fatalities occurred in Wake, Johnston, Cumberland, Harnett, Lee, Bertie and Bladen counties, said Julia Jarema, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
The worst-hit area appears to be Bertie County, where authorities say 11 people are dead. About 75 people were going from door-to-door looking for victims and survivors Sunday.
Several of the dead were all from one family, Bertie County Manager Zee Lamb said.
"It's very devastating. These kinds of fatalities are not something we're used to," he said.
Some people survived even as their homes were torn apart around them, he said.
"There were several cases of houses being totally demolished except for one room, and that's where the people were," Lamb said. "They survived."
The US Army's Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, NC and USMC's Camp Lejeune outside of Jacksonville, NC lost power and had structures damaged in the storms. Although there were no reports of injuries or fatalities, Fort Bragg was closed off to non-essential personnel for the remainder of the weekend as utility crews worked to restore power and clear fallen trees and debris. Some 70 miles to the east a tornado struck a USMC family housing area in Camp Lejeune. There were no reports of fatalities, but Marines pulled a 23 month old boy from the rubble of one home. He was life-flighted to Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville, NC with fractured ribs, a cracked pelvis, broken femur and collapsed lung.
Sgt. Jarred Boone, Lance Cpl. Thomas Dickerson, and Sgt. Greg Shafer said they had run to the aid of a screaming woman while the tornado winds continued to blow. Clearly injured herself, with cuts on her face and a tooth puncturing her lip, the woman told them she couldn’t find her baby. The Marines began to root through a home that had been reduced to boards, finally lifting a wall to find the toddler underneath.
“The baby was blue,” Shafer said. “I lifted that wall up, and we brought him in the back door of (Dickerson’s house) and laid him on the floor.”
The men said one of the other heroes of the day had been a Navy medical officer who appeared seemingly from nowhere, administered CPR and kept the baby alive until officials from the appear Provost Marshal’s Office could arrive.
The man, Lt. J.G. Jonathan Hamrick, a Navy critical care nurse, told The Daily News via email he lived in a home nearby and had operated on adrenaline, rushing to the aid of the distraught mother.
Although Hurricanes are a common hazard in the Carolinas and smaller tornadoes aren't completely unheard of, it's unusual for a storm to spawn this many funnels outside of tornado alley in the midwest.
Federal prosecutors say [Khalid] Aldawsari had been researching online how to construct an improvised explosive device using several chemicals as ingredients. Authorities say Aldawsari's diary indicated the young man had been plotting an attack for years and obtained a scholarship so he could come directly to the United State to carry out jihad.
"After mastering the English language, learning how to build explosives and continuous planning to target the infidel Americans, it is time for jihad," the student wrote in his journal, according to court documents.
In e-mails Aldawsari apparently sent himself, he listed the names of 12 reservoir dams in Colorado and California. He also wrote an e-mail that mentioned "Tyrant's House" with the address of President Bush's home. The FBI's affidavit said he considered using infant dolls to hide explosives and was possibly targeting a nightclub with a backpack filled with explosives.
Employees at Carolina Biological Supply and Con-Way, Inc. alerted the authorities after Aldawsari purchased ten 500 milliliter bottles. The tip led federal investigators to track other purchases the 20 year old Saudi made online. The North Carolina supplier sells chemicals and equipment for classroom use from kindergarten up through the university level.
I don't have to go too far back in time for this one, as today's train of though features an accumulation of snow left behind from the same blizzard I waited out in upstate NY and left the Big Apple furious at their own Sanitation Department over the slow cleanup.
However, this is a little further south- the wintry, picture postcard scene snapped here is actually along the CSX main line between Rocky Mount, NC and Richmond, VA. Even a mild dusting of snow is quite unusual this far south, but the December 2010 blizzard dumped anywhere from 10-15 inches of snow in the northern reaches of the Tarheel State.
Railpictures.net user Nick McLean ventured out into the snow in the days immediately following the Christmas blizzard and was rewarded with memorable images of CSX, Amtrak and Gulf and Ohio's Nash County Railroad digging out from under the white stuff in and around the Rocky Mount, NC area.
Here, we see CSX SD40-2 #8084 leading a former Conrail SD60I on a northbound Herzog ballast train as it makes its way the middle of Enfield, NC on December 27, 2010. The train is roughly halfway between Rocky Mount and the NC/VA state line.
Some 10 days after Election day, a number of seats in the House of Representatives are too close to call, pending either a final tally of absentee ballots or recount.
NY-1: After the Associated Press called the race for incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop in the eastern Long Island Congressional district, Republican challenger Randy Altschuler has taken a lead of nearly 400 votes after a re-canvass of voting machines.
NY-25: The Syracuse Post is reporting that GOP challenger Ann Marie Buerkle increased her slight lead over incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei as abesentee ballots from Cayuga County were counted on Friday. This increases Buerkle's overall lead to just over 700 votes in the Central New York congressional district. Onodaga County is expected to start tallying their absentee ballots starting next Wednesday- Maffei carried that county by 8 points on election night.
IL-8: Incumbent Mellissa Bean finds herself trailing GOP challenger Joe Walsh by roughly 350 votes in the northern Chicagoland district. Clerks in Cook, McHenry and Lake counties are expected to begin counting the estimated 1500 remaining absentee ballots starting next Tuesday.
NC-2: County election boards across North Carolina certified their election results on Friday, but incumbent Congressman Bob Etheridge reiterated his request for a recount after picking up approximately 150 absentee and provisional votes. Even with the 150 vote pickup, Republican challenger Renee Ellmers maintains a nearly 1500 vote lead over Etheridge.
Election officuals began counting absentee and provisional ballots one week after election day, with Ortiz showing no significant gains.
Earlier in the campaign, Ortiz had attempted to make hay out a photo of his opponent posing in duckie pajamas with a statuesque, lingerie-clad blonde at a birthday party/fundraiser for the Gulf Coast Humane Society and American Heart Association in a Corpus Cristi nightclub.
Actual 'Crush Girl'- but apparently not the one in 'scandalous photo'
The bash took place in December 2009, and since it's billed as a pajama/lingerie party I'm not sure what the big deal is about posing for photos with attractive lingerie or pajama clad young women at the aforementioned event. Featured at the event were the Crush Girls, who routinely show up at events and fundraisers in the area, although the woman photographed with Farenthold was reportedly tending bar at the party.
Blogger Robomonkey also has done a bang-up job of rounding up reports of disenfranchisement, suspect activity and outright electoral fraud from throughout the country in his Grand Theft Democracy series (up to Part 11 now!).
I was flipping around between the World Series, the Bruins and the NC State/Florida State games last night, so instead of being able to tune in to all three games, it was more like trying to get caught up on all three games.
WORLD SERIES: And just like that, the San Francisco Giants are out to a 2-0 lead in the 2010 World Series. I'm not really surprised by that as much as I am the margin of San Francisco's victories.
They jumped all over Cliff Lee in Wednesday night's 11-7 win- the Ranger's starter didn't even make it through the 5th inning, getting yanked with two away after giving up an RBI double to Freddy Sanchez and RBI singles to Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross. It got even worse for the Ranger (who did lead 2-0 early in the game) when Darren O'Day came on and gave up a homerun to deep left off the bat of Juan Uribe to make it 8-2 by the time the 5th inning was finished. Despite that, the Rangers were able to cut into the lead on a Bengie Molina RBI double and a David Murphy single to make it an 8-4 game. However, the Texas bullpen would continue to self immolate, giving up three more runs in the bottom of the 8th, and while the Rangers were able to score 3 more runs in the bottom of the 9th, it was too little too late.
For Game 2, Branch Rickey's quote about baseball being a game of inches never seemed more accurate when Ian Kinsler led off the top of the 5th inning with a booming double off of Giants starter Matt Cain that bounced off the top of the wall and teetered back into play. Had it rolled the other way, it would've been a 1-0 Texas game. Instead, Kinsler was stranded at second and Edgar Renteria belted a solo homer that put San Francisco up 1-0. Texas' CJ Wilson went 6 decent innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits. But all of that would be forgotten when the Rangers bullpen once again took over and self-immolated, giving up 7 earned runs on fice hits and four walks to give San Francisco a 9-0 lead. The Giant's Matt Cain threw 7 and 2/3rds shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out two for the Giants' 9-0 win on Thursday night.
For Game 3, the series heads to Arlington, TX with Colby Lewis getting the start against Jonathan Sanchez on Saturday night. Lewis has gone from closing out the Yankees to being the last, best hope for the Rangers in this World Series. First pitch is at 6:57 PM Eastern Time. NHL: Phil Kessel earned the gratitude of the crowd at TD Banknorth Garden Thursday night when the Bruins played host to the Maple Leafs after 1st round draft pick Tyler Seguin tallied an insurance goal. Almost as soon as the red light went off behind Toronto's Jonas Gustavsson, the Bruins faithful broke out into a spontaneous, taunting chant of "Thank you, Kessel!".
Kessel's demands for a new, pricey contract or else be traded from Boston culminated in the September 2009 deal where he wound up in Toronto in exchange for Toronto's first overall draft pick in the 2010 NHL Draft as well as another one in the 2011 draft. Let us not forget that the Maple Leafs are responsible for giving us Tukka Rask as well....
But back to last night's game....Patrice Bergeron opened the scoring with his first goal of the season coming on a Bruins power play with less than a minute left in the first period. Seguin's goal- even strength- came in the second period with assists from Michael Ryder and Dennis Seidenberg and Tim Thomas faced on 20 shots from the Leafs in Boston's 2-0 shutout win. The Bruins head into Saturday night's game at Ottawa with a 5-2-0 record.
The Bruins had the option of sending Seguin down to Providence after nine games, but after the game, Claude Julien announced that they plan on keeping him in Boston for the rest of the year.
NBA: Can you believe the NBA season's here already? After beating Lebron James' new team pretty convincingly, the Celtics stumbled against a LeBron-less Cavs. In the 4th quarter, with the game tied 86-86, Cavs Guard Anthony Parker hit a 3 pointer that was subject to review over whether or not the shot clock had expired and if his toes were on the line. Doc Rivers, not surprisingly, objected- saying it was one of the longest seconds in NBA history.
So after beating the Miami Heat at home Tuesday night by a final of 88-80 (this coming despite a 31 point night by LeBron), the C's fall to Cleveland by a final of 87-95, giving them a .500 record. The C's will next host the Knicks on Friday night.
NCAA FOOTBALL: The North Carolina State Wolfpack managed to come back from a 21-7 halftime deficit against #16 Florida State on Thursday night. Facing a 4th and goal from the 1-foot line with 2:44 left, the Wolfpack decided to go for the go-ahead touchdown instead of the game tying field goal, and it paid dividends, putting NC State up 24-28. But Florida state would march right back down the field from their own 29 yard line on the next possession, and when it looked as though the Seminoles would score the go-ahead TD with less than a minute left. However, 'Noles QB Chris Ponder fumbled the ball inside the NC State 10 yard line, effectively putting away the game for the Wolfpack by the 28-24 final.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NCAA: A 20-year old Notre Dame Student died Wednesday when a tower used to film the football team's practices collapsed. Declan Sullivan was filming the practice from a hydraulic scissors lift for ND's athletic department. Most of the Midwest had been experiencing harsh weather for the past few days and the National Weather Service reported that there was wind gusts of up to 51 MPH in the area at the time of the incident.
NFL: The Minnesota Vikings have listed QB Brett Favre as questionable for starting Sunday's game against the New England Patriots. Two fractures were discovered in Favre's ankle after the Viking's Sunday night game against Green Bay. The latest injury puts Favre's NFL-record of 291 consecutive starts in jeopardy. Head coach Brad Childress announced that it will likely be a gametime decision on his part.
